Wasatch Soccer Sentinel
When Real Salt Lake sold Andres Gomez in August 2024, it was for a substantial sum — at least for this little MLS side — some $11m, though nobody will ever confirm real numbers for any of these things. Maybe it was more, maybe it was less.
Regardless, when that came, RSL went out and spent some of that money over the following months, bringing in players for not-insubstantial fees. Diogo Goncalves highlighted the list at an estimated $3m, but he’s joined by Dominic Marczuk at $1.5m, Lachlan Brook at some $450,000 and Willy Agada for $500,000 in allocation money (priceless) — again, these numbers are all sort of illusory, but illusory is the best we’ve got. Except Agada, I suppose, as that number comes straight from MLS, though allocation money is illusory on its own. I dunno, what do you expect in MLS?
Today, only one of those players remains at Real Salt Lake: Marczuk, who appears to be playing a right wing back role for this team in 2026.
Diogo Goncalves’ departure was announced today by means of a contract buyout, which frees the club from his age bill from a salary cap consideration. After 30 games for Real Salt Lake in 2025, he’s unceremoniously chopped from the squad. And you know? I get it — I don’t think he was a great fit, and the direction the club is going, he’s even less a good fit. There’s just no clear place for a player that’s not Diego Luna starting in the middle, though of course we ought to wonder what happens when Luna eventually leaves, likely after the World Cup.
Signing a player for a $3m transfer fee in MLS is no small thing. It’s something you’d hope a team gets right more often than not. These four signings illustrate a team that didn’t get them right. Maybe Marczuk turns out alright, but Brook didn’t last a full season, Agada lasted until the end of 2025, and so did Goncalves. Even Marczuk went out on loan last year in the late stage of the campaign, and FC Cincinnati had a purchase option they declined to exercise. It’s not as if the team was actively working to keep him around.
We can go further: Ariath Piol was signed for another half-million or something, highly touted, and looks to be a dud — he’s not appeared in preseason yet. Elias Manoel was signed and apparently didn’t want to be here — he was quickly transferred to Brazilian side Botafogo. (Conspiracy theorists delight in the fact that John Textor, majority owner of Botafogo, is a co-owner at Crystal Place with Real Salt Lake co-owner David Blitzer; this all happened before the sale to the Millers, though of course Blitzer’s ownership situation at RSL hasn’t changed. I digress.)
A couple signings in a window not working out is one thing, but this is a significant series of swings and misses. Perhaps we can put it all behind us, but I’m not so willing with the club still largely ran by the same people that were involved during all of these signings — the same identification group (unless a change unannounced has happened there), the same general management group, the same front office. The coaching staff, less the head coach, has changed. I don’t know. I’m just not feeling that comfortable right now.
